Morgan County Relay for Life teams raise $60,000 to fight cancer

100th anniversary of American Cancer Society

By DAN BARKER Times News Editor

Posted:
06/10/2013 11:01:41 AM MDT

Updated:
06/11/2013 12:16:56 PM MDT

Cancer survivors take the first lap at the Morgan County Relay for Life on the track at Legion Field Friday evening. Teams of fundraisers walked the track all night into Saturday morning for the cause of beating cancer.
(DAN BARKER / FORT MORGAN TIMES)

From left, Becky Teaser holds a flower for cancer survivor Dr. John Collins, both of Fort Morgan, while Denise Eicher of Brush hugs him during the survivors lap of the Morgan County Relay for Life Friday evening.
(DAN BARKER / FORT MORGAN TIMES)

The Morgan County Relay for Life event raised more than $60,000 this year, which was higher than last year's $53,000.

That was due to the hard work of the organizing committee and the 23 teams of fundraising volunteers, which made up almost 250 people, said event Chairwoman Chelsea Schraeder during the opening ceremony Friday evening.

Each Relay for Life must last at least 12 hours, and the teams walked around the track at Legion Field from 6 p.m. that day to 6 a.m. Saturday to highlight the importance of beating cancer.

Luminaria in honor of cancer survivors and in memory of those who have lost battles with cancer were put around the track by the Morgan Sandburs 4-H Club to light the way for the walkers.

Before that, the teams had spent months raising money at different events and from various people to add to the $60,683 total.

Event accountant Allison Yearous raised the most money as an individual at $4,540.

The Cancer Crusaders -- made up of the Yearous and Roberts families -- raised the most money as a team at about $6,000.

In fact, most of the teams were made up of families this year, although there were a number of business and group teams, too.

The Relay for Life is the largest cancer fundraiser in the world, Schraeder said. In the years since one man began the event, it has raised about $4.5 billion to fund research into curing the various kinds of cancers, to support individuals and families affected by cancer, education and programs for survivors.

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Today, 5,200 relays are held each year in 20 countries.

The Relay for Life is important to the local community not only because it helps defeat cancer, but because it supports the programs that can support them, she said.

This "amazing gathering" came together with the help of businesses, non-profit groups, individuals, families, children and neighbors, Schraeder said.

"This is Morgan County at its finest," she said. "We want to make a difference in the fight against cancer.

The members of the Relay for Life committee were honored on stage at the opening ceremonies of the3 event Friday evening at Legion Field.
(DAN BARKER / FORT MORGAN TIMES)

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Many people wear shirts saying why they take part in the relay, Schraeder said.

She has been lucky so far, since none of her family or friends have been touched by the diseases, but she joined the committee seven years ago to "pay it forward," she said.

Since then, she has learned a lot and become more determined, Schraeder said.

She is fighting for people's survival, she said.

"I really do it because I hate cancer," Schraeder said.

This is also the 100th anniversary of the American Cancer Society, founded in 1913, she said. It is a group that has made a difference to people working to win the battle over a "disease that takes too much."

Many of the people at the event had lost loved ones to cancer, or had struggled to support them in their fights to live.

Members of the Morgan Sandburs 4-H Club filled the luminaria for the Relay for Life and set them around the track at Legion Field Friday.
(DAN BARKER / FORT MORGAN TIMES)

Publicity Chair Kim Grennan said she lost her father to cancer when he was only 43 years old. Later, her mother died of a form of cancer at 75.

Relay for Life teams like the Happy Feet team, left, posed for photos as they took the first lap of the night at Legion Field Friday. The Happy Feet team was made up of the Rodriguez family.
(DAN BARKER / FORT MORGAN TIMES)

Putting together an event of this size is challenging, even for that many people, Schraeder said.

Schraeder also quoted some poems from people who had faced cancer. One noted that lives can change fast when people find out they have cancer, taking only a few minutes to turn their lives around.

She also read a poem she wrote called "Cancer, You Monster."

Powers said that the survivors lap of the relay -- the first activity -- is proof that cancer can be beaten. In fact, "astounding progress" was made over the past century.

"Survivors is what (the relay) is all about," Powers said.

She noted that some of the survivors walking that day had lived 35 years after their initial diagnosis.

The Wild Weldona Warriors Relay for Life team decorated their tent in a 1970s theme, including a painting of the Mystery Machine from the show "Scooby-Doo." Although the team name says Weldona, its members came from a variety of places.
(DAN BARKER / FORT MORGAN TIMES)

Ibrahim created a large baton she called the "Relay Man." People who were upbeat about the event would be given the stick to walk around the track with, and it would be awarded to the team with the most spirit on Saturday morning.

"We're all here to have a great time," Ibrahim said.

As the teams began to walk, a smothered burrito dinner was served free to team members and for $5 to the public.

Numerous activities were held throughout the night to help people get through the 12 hours.That included hair stylists from City Barber Shop of Brush, Downtown Hair and Montana Hair and Day Spa.

It also included local youth musician Tristan Reyez, the Wiggins Community Church mixed band, and more; pie eating and frozen F-shirt contests; karaoke; cheese puffs contest and Minute to Win it; Zumba and belly dancing; a team feud; face painting; a tug of war; sack races; a Fort Morgan Rotary Club dunk tank; a water balloon war; Twister; volleyball; carpet bingo; an obstacle course; all-night Disney movies; kickboxing; midnight makeovers; and an all-night photo booth.

The Oldie Weds Game hosted by radio personality John Waters featured a chance to "pie" spouses or put them in a dunk tank.

Boy Scout Troop 22 raised the flag, and the quartet of Tertia Cain, Letty Graff, Jacob Bieber and James Graff of the School for the Performing Arts sang the National Anthem.

The event ended with closing ceremonies and breakfast with the Fort Morgan Lion's Club.

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